Programs

Active Learning Nursery École offers a Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Program tailored to your child’s specific educational needs. The programs were co-designed by a French Immersion Kindergarten teacher with over seven years experience in the Calgary Board of Education, and a Child Care Professional with over 15 years experience working with young children. The specific goal of these programs is to prepare children for a school environment where they will be ready with the foundations and tools to excel.

 

We now offer a 5 Day option. Select two programs and receive a 10% discount.

  

Beginner Program (Ages 19 months to 2.5 years)

This is an un-parented Nursery School program, accepting toddlers with an introduction to Music and French Language Arts. As this will be the first time your child is in a classroom environment the main goal of this program is to foster and encourage participation. We seek to build a child’s independence and help them to recognize their peers as people of value to be respected and learned from. Our program helps your child learn patience, socialization skills, and group activities with the freedom for independent discovery.

  

• Music: Music instruction will be in a sing-along format with basic rhythm instruments.
• Art: We will be introducing shapes, colors, numbers, and animals in an art based format striving for name recognition (i.e.. Point to the Blue Square). Typically when students are working on a piece we will try to guide the outcome however the student is allowed to go where there creativity leads them. Our greatest victory is wilful and enthusiastic participation in the activity.
• Movement: A new addition to our program is our Movement curriculum, which has been developed by a dance instructor at a local Studio. As this is a 2 day a week program we will rotate on two week format. The first week on the first day will focus on basic dance instruction, learning to pair physical movement with musical inspiration. The second day will focus on Sports based movement we will rotate between Floor Hockey and Soccer for gross motor skills and ball placement games like Basketball and Bowling for Hand to Eye coordination. The second week on the first day will focus on basic Gymnastics and tumbling, which helps with balance development and dexterity. The second day will again be a Sports Day as we are trying to foster cooperation and physical dexterity. The children must come able to walk, eat independently, and have at least begun potty training at home.

  

  

Intermediate 2 Day Program (Ages 3 to 5 yrs)

This class is geared to the 2 to 4 year old age group that are not ready for a Junior Kindergarten and who have either already attended Beginner Program or may not find it challenging enough. Blended between the two other programs it expands on the shape and color foundation while giving a brief introduction to the world of math and science. We will begin to call certain items by their French name only while still working in a repetitive format (the black cat – un chat noir).

  

• Music: The music instruction will consist of rhythm recognition with a focus on lyric enunciation and song memorization.
• Art: Unlike our Beginner Program where it is an introduction to Art we will now attempt more goal orientated Art Projects where we are looking more for a specific objective than merely being happy with participation. Art is not pre-prepped so that the student is actually creating the piece on their own with only guidance from their Instructor. This allows fine motor skills to develop naturally at their own pace.
• Movement: A new addition to our program is our Movement curriculum, which has been developed by a dance instructor at a local Studio. As this is a 2 day a week program we will rotate on two week format. The first week on the first day will focus on basic dance instruction, learning to pair physical movement with musical inspiration. The second day will focus on Sports based movement we will rotate between Floor Hockey and Soccer for gross motor skills and ball placement games like Basketball and Bowling for Hand to Eye coordination. The second week on the first day will focus on basic Gymnastics and tumbling, which helps with balance development and dexterity. The second day will again be a Sports Day as we are trying to foster cooperation and physical dexterity.
• Theatre/Puppetry: In addition, both programs have a section set aside for puppetry, where on certain days, story time will be substituted for a puppet show. During our playtime the students will be allowed free access to the puppets so that they can develop their own imaginative play. There is a vast selection of costumes, train sets, and building material to develop their fine motor skills as well as project planning. Strict attention has been paid to ensure that all activities are non-aggressive in nature, as a child learns best when they are in a fun and positive environment.

  

  

Intermediate 3 Day Program (Ages 2 to 3 yrs)

This class is geared to the 2 to 4 year old age group that are not ready for a Junior Kindergarten and who have either already attended Beginner Program or may not find it challenging enough. Blended between the two other programs it expands on the shape and color foundation while giving a brief introduction to the world of math and science. We will begin to call certain items by their French name only while still working in a repetitive format (the black cat – un chat noir).

  

• Music: The music instruction will consist of rhythm recognition with a focus on lyric enunciation and song memorization.
• Art: Unlike our Beginner Program where it is an introduction to Art we will now more goal orientated Art Projects where we are looking more for a specific objective than merely being happy with participation. Art is not pre-prepped so that the student is actually creating the piece on their own with only guidance from their Instructor. This allows fine motor skills to develop naturally at their own pace.
• Movement: A new addition to our program is our Movement curriculum which has been developed by a dance instructor at a local Studio. As this is a 3 day a week program we will rotate with each day of the week. Mondays will focus on basic dance instruction, learning to pair physical movement with musical inspiration. Wednesdays will focus on basic Gymnastics and tumbling, which helps with balance development and dexterity. Fridays will focus on Sports based movement we will rotate between Floor Hockey and Soccer for gross motor skills and ball placement games like Basketball and Bowling for Hand to Eye coordination.
• Theatre/Puppetry: In addition, both programs have a section set aside for puppetry, where on certain days story time will be substituted for a puppet show. During our play time the students will be allowed free access to the puppets so that they can develop their own imaginative play. There is a vast selection of costumes, train sets, and building material to develop their fine motor skills as well as project planning. Strict attention has been paid to ensure that all activities are non-aggressive in nature, as a child learns best when they are in a fun and positive environment.

  

  

Advanced Program (Ages 3 to 5 yrs)

This program is built around a junior Kindergarten setting and will emphasize reading, printing, and math readiness skills. Our French curriculum is modified from the Calgary Board of Education Kindergarten program.

  

• Music: In this program we expand upon their musicality with many songs in French, basic vocal training, and note recognition. We introduce the recorder, percussion instruments, cage bells, and everyone’s favourite - the Kazoo!
• Art: Art projects are generally completed on a weekly basis to allow for their own creative expression. Art is not pre-prepped so that the student is actually creating the piece on their own with only guidance from their Instructor. This allows fine motor skills to develop naturally at their own pace.
• Math and Science: We also introduce your child to the world of Mathematics and Science. For Math we try to teach numbers not as a form of memorization but the actual concept of counting objects. For Science we have hands on experiments (mixing colours, different weights for objects of the same size, etc), so that these subjects, which can typically be more dry and uninteresting to your child, will now be viewed as fun and dynamic.
• Movement: A new addition to our program is our Movement curriculum which has been developed by a dance instructor at a local Studio. As this is a 3 day a week program we will rotate with each day of the week. Mondays will focus on basic dance instruction, learning to pair physical movement with musical inspiration. Wednesdays will focus on basic Gymnastics and tumbling, which helps with balance development and dexterity. Fridays will focus on Sports based movement we will rotate between Floor Hockey and Soccer for gross motor skills and ball placement games like Basketball and Bowling for Hand to Eye coordination.
• Theatre/Puppetry: In addition, both programs have a section set aside for puppetry, where on certain days story time will be substituted for a puppet show. During our playtime the students will be allowed free access to the puppets so that they can develop their own imaginative play. There is a vast selection of costumes, train sets, and building material to develop their fine motor skills as well as project planning. Strict attention has been paid to ensure that all activities are non-aggressive in nature, as a child learns best when they are in a fun and positive environment.